Fake job consultancy firm busted in Noida, 5 held

Five persons, including three women, were arrested Thursday for allegedly running a fake job consultancy firm in Noida that used people's personal information to hack their bank accounts, police said Thursday.

The case was cracked by a joint team of the Noida Cyber Cell and the Sector 58 police station, where at least three complaints of cheating were registered against the gang, a senior official said.

Superintendent of Police, Noida, Vineet Jaiswal, said the gang procured data like name, address and contact numbers of job aspirants from employment websites and then reached out to them.

"When speaking to the gullible people, the gang members would send a link on their phones and tell them to use it to make an online payment of Rs 10, a nominal fee, to get a form filled and get registered for receiving job opportunities. They would also ask them to share bank account details, credit or debit card number, CVV number, pin etc and later hack into their accounts and swindle money," he said.

Amit Verma, a resident of Laxmi Nagar in Delhi; Ramit, a resident of Dwarka Mod in Delhi; and three women (identity withheld by police) have been arrested, while three members of the gang are absconding, he said.

"Verma, a B.Tech graduate, and one of the absconding accused, Anurag, are emerging to be the masterminds behind this fraud. The gang had been operational in the Delhi-NCR for some time now," Jaiswal said.

He said searches are on to nab the absconding accused and ascertain the exact number of people who have been duped by the gang.

An FIR has been registered against the five accused under sections 420 (fraud) and 379 (theft) of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act, the police said.